Contemplating the Cross This Easter

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Oh, what we miss out on when we rush past the cross of Christ.  Oh, the richness and reward when we stop to linger before it, when we take the time to “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself” (Heb. 12:3). In a culture where crosses have become commonplace as architecture and jewelry, how we  need to truly gaze upon the cross of Christ in all of its ugliness  and beauty, in its death and in its healing, in the painful price paid  there, and in its free gift of grace. Jesus, keep us near the cross.  —Nancy Guthrie, from Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

We Shall Be Like Him

by Randy Alcorn

We have an example in Scripture of what a resurrection body is like. We’re told a great deal about Christ’s resurrected body, and we’re told that our bodies will be like his. The empty tomb is the ultimate proof that Christ’s resurrection body was the same body that died on the cross. If resurrection meant the creation of a new body, Christ’s original body would have remained in the tomb.

When Jesus said to his disciples after his resurrection, “It is I myself,” he was emphasizing to them that he was the same person—in spirit and body—who had gone to the cross (Luke 24:39). His disciples saw the marks of his crucifixion, unmistakable evidence that this was the same body.

Jesus walked the earth in his resurrection body for forty days, showing us how we would live as resurrected human beings. In effect, he also demonstrated where we would live as resurrected human beings—on Earth. Christ’s resurrection body was suited for life on Earth, not primarily life in the intermediate Heaven. As Jesus was raised to come back to live on Earth, so we will be raised to come back to live on Earth (1 Thessalonians 4:14; Revelation 21:1-3).

The two told what had happened . . . and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them. . . . He said to them, “Why are you troubled . . . ? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!” Luke 24:35-36, 38-39

Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” John 20:26-27

—Excerpted from Life Promises for Eternity by Randy Alcorn

Rejoice, O Christian—He Is Rrisen

"Come, see the place where the Lord lay," with joy and gladness. He does not lie there now. Weep, when ye see the tomb of Christ, but rejoice because it is empty. Thy sin slew him, but his divinity raised him up. Thy guilt hath murdered him, but his righteousness hath restored him. Oh! He hath burst the bonds of death, he hath ...come out more than conqueror, crushing death beneath his feet. Rejoice, O Christian, for he is not there—he is risen.  —Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.  —Martin Luther